“Oh, I see. When you had to act fast, you knew that crying would not help. Why, then, when it comes to spiritual things is it acceptable to cry?”

We all are motivated by both these thrusts. Each of us shares a certain degree of sensitivity to others, and every one of us has a certain measure of self-concern. The question is, however, what is the person’s prime motivating factor.

At all times, we should be in control. We should bring the undesirable matter to our attention when we want to, and deal with it in the way we know best.

To change events that have happened is not within our power; they are history. But we can change the nature of how we will react to whatever has happened.

Bittul, the opposite of yeshus, means nullifying the self. But it does not mean crushing one’s personality; it means dedicating oneself to a higher purpose than self, and constantly striving to achieve that purpose. When a person is buttel, he functions without being aware of himself.

Although we have taken our hands off the wheel, we have not stopped thinking about the direction of the flight. It is just that Someone else is doing the steering. And taking our hands off the wheel is not a proper analogy, because in actual life, our hands are on the wheel; we must take responsibility for our lives.

Yeshus means obsession with self.

The activity of a person’s soul is reflected in his body.

When, by contrast, a person who feels cut off from G-d and very distant from Him labors to establish a bond with Him, he will experience far greater feelings of love than a tzaddik could possibly experience. Why? Because he is confronting an inner challenge. He senses that he is separate from G-d, and must strive to reestablish his connection.